A Wise Investment

What do folks look for when investing in real estate? Well, let’s look at how a Cherokee Lake property stacks up as a wise investment.
Location. Check!

Recreational activities. Check!

Health Care facilities? Sixteen major hospitals are all within a one-hour drive from Cherokee Lake, in Jefferson, Hamblen, and surrounding counties. U.S. News & World Report ranks two of them in the top 10 in the state of Tennessee.¹ Check!

Low Taxes? Tennessee is one of only nine of the fifty states that has no State Income Tax.² Tennessee also has one of the lowest median property tax rates in the United States, with only nine states collecting a lower median property tax than Tennessee.³ The counties which encompass Cherokee Lake breakdown as follows:

The median property tax in Grainger County, Tennessee is $440 per year for a home worth the median value of $89,900. Grainger County collects, on average, 0.49% of a property’s assessed fair market value as property tax.⁴
The median property tax in Hamblen County, Tennessee is $647 per year for a home worth the median value of $118,900. Hamblen County collects, on average, 0.54% of a property’s assessed fair market value as property tax.⁵
The median property tax in Hawkins County, Tennessee is $667 per year for a home worth the median value of $104,900. Hawkins County collects, on average, 0.64% of a property’s assessed fair market value as property tax.⁶
The median property tax in Jefferson County, Tennessee is $612 per year for a home worth the median value of $122,600. Jefferson County collects, on average, 0.5% of a property’s assessed fair market value as property tax.⁷

These four Cherokee Lake counties also have some of the lowest median property tax rates in the entire country. As a point of comparison, here are some median property taxes in some major real estate markets:

The median property tax in Miami, Dade County, Florida is $2,756 per year for a home worth the median value of $269,600. Miami-Dade County collects, on average, 1.02% of a property’s assessed fair market value as property tax.⁸
The median property tax in Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina is $1,257 per year for a home worth the median value of $188,300. Buncombe County collects, on average, 0.67% of a property’s assessed fair market value as property tax. ⁹
The median property tax in Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina is $1,205 per year for a home worth the median value of $242,100. Charleston County collects, on average, 0.5% of a property’s assessed fair market value as property tax. ¹⁰
The median property tax in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia is $2,733 per year for a home worth the median value of $253,100. Fulton County collects, on average, 1.08% of a property’s assessed fair market value as property tax.¹¹

So, low Taxes in the Cherokee Lake communities? Check!

Safe? Let’s face it, nowadays there is truly no safe place to live–whether in the US or abroad. However, the ultimate statistic that defines safety in a city is the number of murder/manslaughter crimes. Per CityRating.com, in analyzing the historical data on specific cities, the projected number of murders for 2019 in the major Cherokee Lake area as follows: Jefferson City 0. Morristown 0. Rutledge 0. As a point of comparison, the projected number for Asheville 8. Charleston 11. Savannah 23. Orlando 44. Miami 69. Atlanta 87. So, I would say this deserves a Check!

Employment? Of course, not everyone moves to the Cherokee Lake area to retire. Some of us have to work for a living. With the booming tourism industry of the Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge areas a short drive away, and the employment opportunities available in the hotel, resort, entertainment, restaurant, and retail industry, jobs are aplenty. For those seeking employment in the educational sector, school systems abound because of the four counties surrounding the Cherokee Lake area. Plus, the advantages of having The University of Tennessee, Carson Newman University, Walters State College, and other institutions of higher learning close by add more opportunities. Medical facilities, as mentioned previously, are also quite numerous, for those in the medical field. If your chosen expertise lies in banking, in Jefferson City alone, there are eight branches of eight different banks to choose from. Plus, don’t forget, this is a tightly woven four-county area that offers a vast number of employers to choose from. Malls, service industries, grocery chains, retail, restaurant, professional, and the different types of industries which service communities are also here to choose from. Major companies are also viewing the opportunities the Cherokee Lake area offers by establishing a presence here. For example, Fortune 500 company Oshkosh Corporation will establish a new manufacturing facility in Jefferson City, creating more than 300 jobs.¹² Let’s put another Check! on employment in the Cherokee Lake community!

Appreciation on your investment? Using data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s “House Pricing Index” (HPI), David Price (NMLS 915856) with PRMG (NMLS 75243) confirmed that the average sales price of a home in Jefferson City, one of the premier Cherokee Lake communities, was $133,359 in 2017.¹³ In 2018, the price rose to $155,748. This is a whopping return of more than 16% on your property investment. Not bad. Check!

Is owning real estate in Cherokee Lake a wise investment? Location, recreational activities, health care, taxes, safety, employment opportunities, and rate of return on your real estate investment have all been analyzed, and have all been checked Yes! All this adds up to making the Cherokee Lake area very desirable for folks wanting to own here. When you add to the mix that lakefront, lake view, and lake access to real estate is limited (the land mass surrounding Cherokee Lake can’t be increased), your investment can be considered an extremely wise one.